Rudy Gay seemed safe in Memphis after the team dumped salary to get under the luxury tax.

But the team only gave Gay a lukewarm endorsement following the move, which seemed a bit odd, and lo and behold, he remained on the trade block.

Now, Toronto has returned to the fore, continuing a long pursuit of Gay that dates back to the 2006 draft, when he was among the final options to go No. 1 overall.

The teams continue to discuss a deal involving Ed Davis and Jose Calderon heading to Memphis for Gay, who would provide a considerable upgrade at small forward.

Gay is a close friend of Kyle Lowry, who would return to the starting point guard role.

Memphis has shopped Gay league-wide, but apparently hasn’t found a better offer than Davis, a promising young power forward, and Calderon, the league’s best backup point guard who will be a free agent this summer. Memphis doesn’t have a huge need for either player though, with Zach Randolph and Mike Conley Jr. already on board.

Toronto also has little interest in taking on additional salary in the form of Darrell Arthur in a deal, so a simple 2-for-1 is the likeliest outcome, though that could change if other teams get involved.

After dropping to 17-25 last Wednesday, the Lakers blew out Utah and shocked Oklahoma City to make a statement that the team might not be dead yet.

Sure, a seven-game road trip is on the horizon (following Tuesday’s game against New Orleans), so the death knell could yet ring soon for the Lakers.

While Dwight Howard continues to play horrible basketball, Kobe Bryant has become a deadly distributor (back-to-back 14 assist games) and Pau Gasol has been great off of the bench.

Howard credits a heart-to-heart discussion with his teammates and Bryant (that including Bryant blasting Howard, apparently) for the turnaround.

“It helped (us) and it helped everybody on the team. It was great. People have said it was a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting. It was good. Stuff like that takes time. We all got to a point that whatever needed to be said was said but none of the stuff was taken personal. We all want to add another banner up there and all have rings, and in order for us to do that we all have to do it together,” Howard told reporters.

IVERSON SNUBS D-LEAGUE OFFER

Allen Iverson is still hoping for a return to the NBA one day, but he doesn’t want to put in the work to get back, it seems.

The former league MVP has been out of the league for three years now, but the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League offered him a job this week.

Former Raptor Mike James signed with the Legends and less than a month later, had made his way back to the NBA, with the Dallas Mavericks. James did well on a pair of 10-day stints, and eventually was inked for the remainder of the season.

But Iverson doesn’t want to follow suit and he took to Twitter for the first time in ages on Tuesday to explain why.

“I thank Donnie (Nelson) and Dallas for the consideration and while I think the D-League is a great opportunity, it is not the route for me,” Iverson tweeted.

“I realize my actions contributed to my early departure from the NBA, should God provide me another opportunity I will give it my all … My dream has always been to complete my legacy in the NBA.”

But he clearly feels that he’s proven enough to be given a shot.

LEADER OF THE PACK IS BACK

Rick Adelman is back just in time to try to save Minnesota’s season.

The Wolves miss injured superstar Kevin Love badly, but also have stumbled without the excellent head coach, dropping 9-of-11 games while he was away with his wife, who has an undisclosed medical issue.

Adelman planned to coach on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers. He said his wife is improving.

Terry Porter, one of his former players, took Adelman’s place while he was away from the team.

The team also recently lost Nikola Pekovic and Alexy Shved to injury. Brandon Roy, Josh Howard and Chase Budinger also are out.

Shved and Pekovic could play on Wednesday.

“We’ve got half the season left,” Adelman said after returning to practice on Monday. “Even though a lot of things have been thrown our way, life moves on. You’ve got to find a way to get yourself energized and focus on what you can do right now. Like I told the team, everybody’s got to do a little bit more.”